Gluten Free Raspberry Fig Cookie Bars

This recipe was inspired by and all but stolen from Isa Chandra Moskowitz's theppk.com.  But since I'm doing my best to avoid wheat and gluten, I wanted to provide a GF version of this brilliant baking accomplishment.  I highly suggest taking a stroll through The PPK- it's an incredible resource of recipes and ideas.  Just remember who sent you there and come back to say hi every now and then.

This is one of those recipes that makes me chuckle when someone says, "you're vegan and gluten free? What do you eat? Don't you feel deprived?!"  Yes, so deprived.  Doesn't that photo just spell deprivation? These cookie bars have the perfect amount of fruit to allow you to justify to yourself why you ate all of them in one sitting.  But just the perfect amount of gooey figgy center, and sweet melt-in-your-mouth golden fluffy crust to let in the perfect amount of guilt.  Come one, we all know how good it feels to be bad.

Makes 12 good-sized bars

Filling:
about 40 dried figs (black mission), de-stemmed and chopped in small pieces
1⁄2 cup frozen raspberries
2⁄3 cup water
1⁄4 cup agave or pure maple syrup (I used maple syrup)
zest of one lemon (you could also use a lime or 2 tsp of orange zest)

Cookie Crust:
2 Tbsp ground flax seed
1⁄4 cup dairy-free milk (I used rice milk)
1⁄2 cup canola oil
3⁄4 cup sugar
1 1⁄2 tsp vanilla extract
1 3⁄4 cups Gluten Free All-Purpose Flour (I used Arrowhead Mills brand)
1 tsp baking POWDER
1⁄2 tsp salt

1. Line an 8x8 square brownie pan with enough aluminum foil so it folds over two sides of the pan by an inch or two.  Spray the covered pan with non-stick cooking spray.  Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. In a medium sized pan, bring figs, raspberries, water, maple syrup, and lemon zest to a boil.  Reduce heat and let simmer for 8-10 minutes while you prepare the dough.

3. In a large bowl, combine flax seed, milk, canola oil, sugar, and vanilla and a mix well until smooth.  Sift or add in flour, baking powder and salt and mix until a loose dough forms.  Form the dough into a ball and split in half.  Spread one half of the dough on the bottom of the baking sheet.  Bake in the oven for 5 minutes.

4.  While that's baking, remove fig mixture from heat and mush with a metal spatula or potato masher, or place in a food processor until it's reached your desired texture (I used a food processor).

5. Take your second dough ball, place it between two sheets of wax paper and roll it out about 1⁄2 and inch thick.  Remove the pan from the oven, and spread the fig mixture evenly over the first layer of dough.  Remove one side of the wax paper and place that side down in the pan.  Remove the top layer of wax paper, even out the dough to cover the entire top, and place the pan back in the oven.  Cook for 22-25 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

6. Remove from oven, and place pan on a wire rack to cool.  When bars are cooled, remove them from the pan by lifting the sides of excess foil.  Flip over onto a cutting board and cut into squares.

Enjoy!